DRS - I saw lot of criticism of the supposed 'howler' made by the Third Umpire Shaun Baig upholding the On Field Umpires LBW decision against Daryl Mitchell. Hotspot indicated an edge, while the Snicko was flat. As per ICC protocol, Audio Based Snicko takes precedence over Thermal Based Hotspot in the event of a Conflict, and as such the Third Umpire was quire correct in upholding the decision based on 'no spike' in Snicko (Ultra Edge). Since the whole review was being shown on the Big Screen in the Stadium, the batsman was convinced he was hard done by, and one can't blame him too for being astonished and aggrieved. A bit of a mess, but not one that should lead to condemnation of DRS, which has really improved the quality of decision making, and has given the teams a chance to review an apparently bad decision.
Cricketing System: A decade ago, everyone was gushing about the Australian System of Cricket, and there was a beeline for imitating their system. Suddenly, Australian Coaches were much sought after, and we had absolute disasters like Greg Chappel ( a great Cricketer, a good coach but a poor Man-Manager), John Buchanen et al. Australia dominated only because they had a blend of extremely talented cricketers playing together. If the Australian system was so good then, why are they struggling now? By the same token, India is the Powerhouse today. The Indian team creates the same awe as the West Indies of 1980s or the Australians of 2000's. IPL was supposed to be the death knell of Indian Cricket, but IPL brought in riches for the poorly paid domestic cricketers, directly and indirectly. This has led to more youngsters taking up cricket as a profession, as it even rewarded players like, say Basil Thampi, with enough money to be secure for life. The moot question is why is no country trying to emulate the Indian System or go for Indian Coaches? White Man's bias? Perhaps. Talking about Cricketing Systems, England is in doldrums because their Country Cricket is not throwing up talent. Once Anderson and Broad hangs up their boots, England will be worse than the current Australian team. India is on the up and up because they have found a bunch of top quality Medium Fast bowlers in Bumrah, Bhuvi, Shami, Ishant, Umesh Yadav. If one were to look at the domineering teams of the past, they always had match winning bowlers - the fast bowlers of West Indies of 1980's, Shane Warne and McGarth of Australia, Muthiah Muraleedharan from Srilanka, Imran, Sarfraz, Qadir of Pakistan. For India add Ashwin, Kuldeep in the Tests, and Kuldeep and Chahal in ODI/T20 and we suddenly have a combination capable of bowling opposition out in any format at any venue.
MS Dhoni: I have never been a great fan of Dhohi, despite his achievements and have always believed that he should have hung up his boots long time ago. But watching him in Australia and New Zealand, I am convinced he should play for a year more. His glove work is still superb (though he still wont go for catches beyond his reach), is fit, bats well but more importantly his leadership qualities and mentoring skills adds immense value to the team
